A True Christmas
by erigstimloveles
Summary: A short Christmas tribute. SasuxSaku. Sakura gives Sasuke a beautiful Christmas gift and expects something in return. But somethings are better than materialistic gifts. MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE.


**This is a dedication to all people who celebrate Christmas. Since my other stories are on dead hold due to the fact that I'm on writer's block, this little piece might cleanse my mind for awhile. Enjoy!**

**IMPORATANT: I've been hunting for 2 EPISODES OF TWO OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS. One of them is the episode "Boys and Girls." In NED'S DECLASSIFIED. And the other one is "The End Part 3" in Teen Titans. None of them seem to be on youtube so if any grateful people out there can find it, I'll be eternally HAPPY!**

_The True meaning of Christmas_

Flecks of pale white snow fell gracefully on the grounds of the village. People were caroling and the whole place was busy with activity as they rummaged back and forth. Fresh scents of Christmas cookies filled the air and it was a joyous day.

Sakura, with her pink hair tucked into her red parka and a blue scarf around her neck, carried 3 presents in her arms and dashed down the road to find her teammates. She was excited! Today was Christmas Eve and everyone was exchanging presents between friends. She even saw Ino earlier who had gotten a bundle load of gifts from _her _team. (Probably forcingly)

The road was light with a layer inch of snow. Sakura's shoes made footprints as she ran down the sidewalks, her black boots dusted with the white substance.

"Oh I can't WAIT for them to open my presents!" Sakura gushed, panting.

She had spent 4 days picking, wrapping, criticizing and exchanging her gifts to find the perfect match for each of her team's personal needs. She even went out and bought a giant lollipop candy cane for each gift.

Down the street, Team Kakashi was visible. They were all training and Naruto was complaining again to Kakashi, arguing that he was teaching Sasuke everything and he felt left out.

Sakura smiled decently. She knew her teammates were going to like what she brought them. She dashed down the hill and ran to them shouting…

"Hey guys!" Sakura chirped.

Naruto and Sasuke lifted their heads to realize Sakura was running down the hill with an armful of GIFTS.

They watched as Sakura smiled to them at the end and hand each of them a sparkling present, each decorated with elaborate ribbon patterns and a card to match.

"Uh, thanks Sakura." Kakashi examined his gift and smiled.

"Yea, thanks a lot, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered.

Sasuke merely stared at his.

Sakura stared happily as Naruto, first, opened his present revealing a stuffed chibi version of HIM. It was a doll with all the details of Naruto and most of all, it was adorable and cuddly. Naruto stared, his mouth gaped.

Sakura giggled. "You like? I went to a special tailor just to get this made."

Naruto nodded slowly. Then his eyes glittered and tears welled up.

"SAKURA-CHAN! THIS IS THE NICEST THING YOU'VE EVER GIVEN ME!" Naruto cried, anime tears and a highlight in his eye. Sakura sweatdropped.

Everyone else stared as Kakashi opened his present.

It was an authentic kunai, from at least a thousand years ago, incased in a display case with velvet matching underneath.

Sakura blushed. "I was at an auction and so I bought it for 100,000 yen."

Kakashi laughed pleasantly. He smiled and patted Sakura's head.

"It's very nice." He said and tucked it safely in his kunai pocket.

They all peered happily at Sasuke who sighed softly and opened his.

Inside was a velvet case, a small square box.

Everyone gasped and urged Sasuke to open his present. He slowly opened it and inside nested a silver ID bracelet with special inscriptions on the back.

"_Uchiha Sasuke…loves from the cherry blossom." _Referring to Sakura of course. Sakura blushed as Sasuke lifted it and examined it without much emotion. He stared at Sakura and closed his eyes.

"Thanks." Sasuke said softly. He put the ID bracelet into his pockets.

Sakura stared, hoping for a little more. Maybe a "_Your present is really nice." _Or something like "_I really appreciate it." _But the cracking disappointment was a bit odd. She hoped that he would actually say anything more.

"Oh hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, breaking the tension. "I brought you a present!"

He held out a poorly wrapped small gift and Sakura was actually thankful right now for a bit of sympathy from anyone even Naruto.

She took the gift and unwrapped it slowly, savoring the moment.

Sakura lifted out a small necklace, embroidered with a gold locket. Inside was a picture of their team, with Sakura pounced on Sasuke while Naruto and Kakashi are next to them, smiling.

"Oh Naruto!" Sakura cheered, happily. She lifted the locket out of the box and examined it closely. "This is so sweet!" She said, gushing happily, hoping Sasuke would notice and overcome with jealousy that he sweeps her off her feet and they elope to a romantic getaway where Sasuke admits he always loved Sakura…

Yea, well…fairy tales never really end like that.

She gave Naruto a quick hug and watched intently, but Sasuke didn't respond with any interest. Instead, Kakashi pulled out a rectangular box out of his pocket and handed it thoughtfully to Sakura.

"Merry Christmas, pupil." Kakashi said.

Sakura smiled and gracefully accepted Kakashi's gift. She carefully teared the wrapping off and revealed a sparkling bottle of bath gel and 3 different bottles of beaded scented lotion.

Sakura gushed and gave Kakashi one big hug.

"Oh my goodness, Kakashi-sensei! Thanks a lot!" Sakura smiled.

"No Sweat." Kakashi answered. "…It was just sitting in the attic anyways…"

Sakura turned to face Sasuke, expecting him to bedazzle her with some extravagant gift but as greeted with a cold glance.

Sakura stared as Sasuke picked up his belongings scornfully and said, "I better be going now." Then he headed off without a goodbye. Sakura gazed at him but he did nothing except walk off.

Suddenly, the pit in her stomach grew larger and immediately, she felt a wave of sadness. She thought Sasuke would actually do SOMETHING nice for her today. But all he did was grunt and walk off.

"So Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, still overdosed with joy from his present from Sakura. "Want to go to Ichiraku to get some ramen?"

Sakura smiled at Naruto but lifted her head downwards a bit.

"No thanks Naruto. I just remembered I have to get home to help my mom hang the banners." She lied. She waved goodbye to Kakashi and greeted farewell to Naruto. With a quick clack of her boot heel, she headed the other way, walking slowly, her heart breaking.

_At home…_

Sakura dreadfully tore off her jacket and ran straight into her room. She was disappointed…disappointed in Sasuke for upsetting her without a present. But mostly, it was herself. How long had they known each other? She shouldn't be like this.

"That's right!" Sakura shouted, pounding her fists into her hand. "No reason to get depressed over this! No reason!"

"Tomorrow when we go training again, I will not make a big deal out of this." She declared with great will power.

_The next day at the training grounds…_

"Ok, deep breaths." Sakura told herself as she rounded the corner. Snow coveted the tree tops and a everyone was outside, running around, getting the final Christmas touches done. Besides, it was finally Christmas day today.

"Good morning!" Sakura forced a smile as she saw Naruto and Sasuke when we turned left. Sasuke was throwing practice throws of kunai at the target while Naruto joyfully greeted Sakura with a proud smile.

"MORNING, SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto cheered.

Sakura stifled a weak smile. She glanced longingly at Sasuke but he didn't even offer a glance or a greeting. But he was looking a bit uncomfortable and Sakura's hopes were stretching, begging that he actually did get her a gift.

"Naruto…" Sakura said softly. "Can you go buy me a box of bandages by the drug store?" she handed him a 5 dollar bill.

Naruto stared, puzzled.

"Ok then!" he replied. "I'LL BE BACK!" Then he ran off, happy to fulfill a duty for Sakura.

Sakura's main goal was to try and get her alone with Sasuke. Now that they were, she wasn't sure what to do except walk around and unpack her training equipment.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said pleasantly.

Sasuke only grunted, with the same uncomfortable look on his face.

"Merry Christmas." She said softly.

"Mm…" he mumbled.

Finally, after a long and muted silence, Sakura broke the ice and couldn't stand it anymore.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Sakura asked, annoyed that while trying to make peace with Sasuke, he only grunted and glared at her. "Like, am I getting on your nerves that you have to ignore me all together?"

Sasuke looked up, a glint in his eyes. Sakura's stomach did a flip.

"I-I-I mean…" Sakura blundered. "I just thought maybe…you were in a bad mood and…you didn't feel like talking to anyone."

Sasuke's glare softened a tad. "That's not it."

Sakura looked at him, her pink dreads blowing freely. "Then…want to talk about it?"

Sasuke shook his head softly. "No…I'm fine. I just…"

"Yes?" Sakura asked, thrilled she got some sort of feedback from him since yesterday's menacing approach. "What?"

"…Wanted to thank you for that present." Sasuke finally muttered, not making any eye contact with Sakura whatsoever. He focused on aiming kunai and shuriken, averting his attention away from her. Sakura stared.

"Oh." She blushed. "You're welcome."

"And…" Sasuke gulped.

Sakura watched as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a golden heart. It was a tin foil wrapped Goldiva chocolate with a cupid on this front.

Sasuke slowly took Sakura's hand and placed the chocolate in her hand and put his hand softly on her shoulder. Sakura blushed and smiled.

"T-thanks…" she said. "I just really…"

But before she could say anything more, Sasuke put one finger on her lips, telling her to hush and gently kissed her cheek. A friendly, morsal kiss…nothing of love or a couple. Just an innocent, I'm your friend and thank you kiss.

"Merry Christmas." Sasuke smiled.

_True love never has happy endings. Because true love never ends._

**Merry Christmas everyone. I'll try to upload another chapter of my other stories on here, but since it's Christmas…I'm stuck at a boring party drinking eggnog while my sister totally ignores me.**


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